The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Liverpool City Council and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre are inviting local community champions and food heroes to take part in a major artist-led project: ‘FOOD FIGHT – the Battle for food Security’.
The project takes a socially engaged approach to raising awareness and stimulating conversations about a hidden issue: food security and access to affordable, fresh and nutritious food for everyone in Liverpool and South Western Sydney. It will include a series of community engagement workshops and culminate in a major public event in Bigge Park, Liverpool, on Saturday 30 April.
The project, which is part of the MCA’s C3West program, is led by Sydney artists Diego Bonetto and Branch Nebula (Lee Wilson and Mirabelle Wouters), in collaboration with designer Genevieve Murray of Future Method Studio.
‘FOOD FIGHT – the Battle for food Security’ has been developed in partnership with Liverpool City Council and builds on the Council’s long-standing commitment to encourage healthy lifestyles, through initiatives such as the “Healthy Living in Liverpool Cookbook” or the seminal “Right to Food” conference which took place in October 2014, involving a range of local and national policy makers, academics, health promoters and community development workers.
As part of the project development, the artists will conduct a series of community engagement workshops with local partners such as the Liverpool Girls High School, Inspire Community Services and the Liverpool Community Kitchen, Food Bank, OzHarvest and Youth Food Movement Australia – to name a few.
The event itself will take place in Bigge Park, Liverpool, on Saturday 30 April (5-8pm). It will include a night market with local and healthy food stalls, live cooking shows, a DJ set, soap box performances by ‘Food Warriors’, nutrition chats with roaming ‘Food Security Guards’ and a dramatic finale involving a short artist-choreographed food fight and a 100-seat al-fresco banquet designed by the artists and cooked by local food heroes from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds – giving policy makers, stakeholders, recipients of food relief and community champions a chance to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Artist Diego Bonetto, one of the creative minds behind this project, concludes: “Our aim with this FOOD FIGHT project is twofold: we want to create a fun and engaging event that serves as a wake-up call and conversation starter on a hidden issue; whilst also celebrating the community champions and everyday heroes who fight for food security in the local area, one meal at a time.”